


Smile for me

by BruiseViolet22



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Body Modification, Bulimia, Bullying, Chandler is extremely villainous, Duke tries to defend herself for once and Chandler does NOT take it well, F/F, Gore, Medical Torture, Mutilation, Non-Consensual Body Modification, This will probably remain a oneshot, Torture, nvm I wrote a second chapter, slight homoeroticism if you squint, this is based on my nightmares so turn back now if you don't want to read it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 10:33:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19105336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BruiseViolet22/pseuds/BruiseViolet22
Summary: "So... earlier on you said you weren't happy", Chandler said, very softly, almost whispering."N-no, Heather, I'm not", Duke said, instantly regretting her answer and wishing she had just lied."You realize that showing unhappiness is a sign of weakness? If everyone else knows that not everything is perfect, then they'll start looking for our weak spots and we'll fall apart. We can't have that, can we? And you're a loose cannon; if we lose power it will be because of you. You know what I'll have to do to you?""W-what?" asked Duke, afraid of what Chandler was going to say.Chandler smiled brightly, and leaned in close to Duke."I'll have to make sure you'll be happy all the time".





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the tags before reading this fic as it's rather graphic and not to everyone's taste.

"Come with me to the science lab", Heather Chandler commanded Heather Duke, in a tone that was uncharacteristically gentle - or at least gentle for Chandler. It still had a slightly harsh edge.

Heather Duke silently panicked. She knew she was in for it. 

Earlier that day, Duke had finally snapped. She had had enough of Chandler's bullying. Chandler hadn't even been treating her any worse than usual - well, at least not much worse. But Duke had progressively been becoming more and more disenchanted with being a Heather for months. Sure, it had gotten her the popularity she had always craved and the pupils of Westerburg High School did everything she asked of them. But the pressure of always having to be perfect was hard, and Duke's stress levels rose sky high, as did her purging. It wouldn't have been so bad if she had actually gotten support from her friends, but Chandler would find any little detail to criticize and McNamara would join in to gain Chandler's approval.

"I don't know why you bother dieting", Chandler had said idly during lunchtime that day, looking at Duke's meagre meal of an apple and a carton of milk. "You just look the same as Martha Dumptruck over there no matter what you do".

Duke felt as if she had been stabbed in the kidney. She tried so hard, but it didn't make a difference. She was still fat. _Fat fat fat. Disgustingly fat._ Now more than ever, she wanted to throw up. To puke her guts up, until she felt completely empty on the inside.

Duke moved to stand up and go to the bathroom, but Chandler stretched her arm out and grabbed Heather's wrist. "No. Stay here", she said. "Why don't you have my lunch instead of yours? I don't like the pizza this school serves, and my pizza slice looks a lot more fitting for a girl of your size than that apple does".

Duke glanced at Chandler, then looked away. She felt as though if she looked at Chandler for an extended period of time, she would start crying. Duke started looking at a random spot in the cafeteria. Her eyes settled on Martha Dunnstock, who was hoovering up a packet of cookies she had brought from home and chatting animatedly with Veronica Sawyer, who was looking at her and smiling.

_No matter what you do, you stay the same. You'll always just be another version of Martha Dumptruck, except even more pathetic because at least her friend actually likes her._

"Heather!"

Duke jumped, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Come over to this side of the table" Chandler ordered. Duke complied, shuffling her feet reluctantly and standing next to Chandler.

"Sit down", Chandler said, patting the spot next to her that wasn't already occupied by McNamara. Heather sat down, hoping the bell would ring soon and she could leave to go to class.

"Open your mouth". Chandler demanded.

"What? Why?" asked Duke, not quite believing her ears. 

"Are you deaf? I told you to open your mouth!" Chandler commanded crossly.

But Duke didn't open her mouth.

Chandler furrowed her brows angrily and grabbed her pizza slice, before smushing it against Duke's mouth. Still, Duke didn't open her mouth. Chandler pinched her nose, forcing Duke to open her mouth to breathe. Chandler forced the pizza inside, as much of it as she could fit in.

Duke bit off a piece of the pizza, before spitting it out.

"What the hell, Heather?!" she shouted, shocked and completely outraged. "How could you?"

"Stop yelling, Heather. I'm just sharing my lunch with you. I don't know why you're being so ungrateful. I'm being kind." said Chandler, amusedly.

"Fuck your lunch! What gives you the right to force feed me food I don't even want?!"

"Shut up, Heather".

Duke gazed at Heather furiously.

"No. No, I will not shut up! Not this time! You've gone too far, Heather!"

"It's only a slice of pizza. Stop being so melodramatic".

"It's not just a slice of pizza though. You know - you know I have insecurities - "

"- You're a Heather, there's no need to be insecure - "

"I wasn't insecure before I joined you! You did this to me!"

People were beginning to stare. The Heathers were arguing? This would be the talk of the school for the next two weeks. Chandler knew that, and the Heathers had an image to maintain. They had to be perfect, which meant they couldn't be seen fighting. Which is why she wiped the tomato sauce off Duke's face and said, in a poisonously soft voice, "Why don't you come to the bathroom with me Heather?" before saying to McNamara, "you don't have to come with us".

When they were inside the bathroom, Chandler grabbed Duke by the arm and roughly turned her around so that she was facing the mirror.

"Look at you. It's not my fault you need to lose a few pounds. I give you the opportunity to live the dream, and this is how you repay me? By making a show of me in the cafeteria and blaming me for all your problems?" 

"I don't want the dream anymore, it's making me unhappy, I was better off before -"

"- You want out of our group because you're unhappy? But Heather, I can make you happy. I'll never have to tell you to shut up again. Meet me after school and we'll fix everything wrong with you."

That had been earlier today. Duke was wondering what Chandler had in store for her and was regretting her outburst in the cafeteria. Heather was usually aggressive and direct, and her sweet, simpering tone had unnerved Duke immensely.

They stepped inside the cold, grey science lab.

"Why don't you take a seat, Heather?" Chandler asked.

Duke went to sit in the large, cushy teacher's chair at the top of the room. She looked at Chandler, who had grabbed a metre stick and was using it to make sure no one would be able to enter the room.

_Why is she locking the door? What does she have planned?_

Chandler turned around and started marching towards Duke. Duke tried to lean away from her as much as she could in the chair she was sitting in.

"So... earlier on you said you weren't happy", Chandler said, very softly, almost whispering.

"N-no, Heather, I'm not", Duke said, instantly regretting her answer and wishing she had just lied.

"You realize that showing unhappiness is a sign of weakness? If the other pupils know that not everything is perfect, then they'll start looking for our weak spots and we'll fall apart. We can't have that, can we? And you're a loose cannon; if we lose power it will be because of you. You know what I have to do to you?"

"W-what?" asked Duke, afraid of what Chandler was going to say.

Chandler smiled brightly, and leaned in close to Duke.

"I'll have to make sure you'll be happy all the time".

Duke didn't know how Chandler was going to achieve this, but before she could ask what Chandler was intending to do, Chandler took her cherry coloured backpack off and started rummaging around in it. She quickly pulled something out, before lunging at Duke.

Duke struggled against her, but to no avail. Heather managed to tie something around her arms, then her legs, and then she covered her mouth and eyes.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing Heather? Untie me!" She tried to say, but her words were muffled . She heard Chandler dragging a chair near the teacher's desk where Duke was located.

Chandler removed the blindfold and the covering on her mouth almost as quickly as she put them on.

On the desk in front of her, Heather Duke could see four items: a syringe, a sewing needle, a spool of red thread, and a small jar labelled "Anaesthesia".

Anaesthesia? How on Earth could Heather Chandler have procured anaesthesia so quickly? It's not like anaesthesia was just lying around in the school. Unless - _This means Heather must have been planning this for a while._

"What are you going to do with those things?" Duke asked nervously.

"Make you happy", Chandler replied, filling the syringe with anaesthesia. "I'll never have to listen to you whine again", she added, putting the two items down and picking up the needle, idly spinning it in her manicured hand.

"I'll never whine again! I'll shut up forever! Please, just let me go! Don't do this!" Duke said, trying to fight against her bindings.

Chandler laughed, her ruby lips smirking cruelly as she put the needle down. "You'll shut up all right", Chandler told the terrified brunette. "It's too late for you, Heather. I've had enough of you. You yelled at me, tried to embarrass me in the cafeteria, and then specifically told me you were unhappy. That _I_ made you unhappy." Chandler took the syringe off the desk. "Well, now I'm going to make you happy. Don't worry, you won't be awake to feel a thing." she said, sinking the syringe deep into Duke's arm.

Duke's struggling stopped, and her body started to go limp as she was pulled under the ether.

******************************************************

Duke eventually started to wake up. She wasn't sure how long she'd been out - minutes, or hours? She slowly opened her eyes. The restraints around her wrists and ankles were now gone. Instead, a red silk scarf was tied around her waist and the chair.

"You're awake." she heard Heather's voice saying from somewhere beside her. She suddenly felt a finger underneath her chin, tilting her head up.

"I must say, you look a lot prettier", Chandler said, bringing her face close to Duke's and stroking her cheek. For a second, Duke almost thought she was going to kiss her.

Duke tried to talk, but no words came out. Her mouth felt numb.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know what's happened yet. Here, let me show you," Chandler said, reaching into the backpack that was on the floor. She took out a small hand mirror and offered it to Duke. Duke took the mirror, her hands shaking, and raised it to her face. She gazed at her reflection in horror.

"What do you think? I think it's a lot better this way, don't you agree?"

Duke was aghast. Her mouth had been stitched into a contorted smile using the red thread she had seen earlier. Blood was running from her mouth to her chin. She brought her finger to her lips and ran them along the stitches.

_How was she meant to breathe? Were these stitches permanent? Was it even possible to stay alive with one's mouth sewn shut?_

"I'd suggest breathing through your nose if you don't want to suffocate to death", Chandler advised. Duke realized she had been trying to heave in and out through her mouth. "And stop being such a crybaby", she said in a bored voice, noticing the tears streaming down Duke's face. "You still manage to whine even when you can't talk".

Chandler took a tissue from the box sitting on top the teacher's desk, and gently wiped the blood off of Heather's face, before dropping it into the wastebasket.

"If you're a good girl and do everything I tell you to, I'll consider taking the stitches out in about a month. If you tell anyone... well, let's just say, I know a lot more torture methods that I would just _love_ to try out on you".

Chandler cupped Duke's face and gently ran her index finger along Duke's mouth. "So. Did you learn anything today?" Duke could feel her eyes filling up with tears again and nodded, trying to blink them out.

"You understand that you're a part of this team and that as a part of the team you must co-operate? That everything will be easier if you do what I tell you to do?"

Again, Duke slowly nodded.

"Good, I managed to teach you something. Now, I'll untie the rope, but you have to leave at a later time than me. We'll be leaving separately, of course." Chandler removed the restraints, then stroked Duke's lips once more before grabbing her backpack and opening the door. She was about to leave the room, but then she turned around and said:

"If you even try to remove the stitches, I'll just resew them again. Except next time I won't use anaesthesia. And if you tell anyone? I'll do something more permanent to you."

Chandler walked away victoriously. Duke curled her legs into the chair, hugged her knees up to her chest, and started to cry...


	2. Chapter 2

Heather silently sighed. It had been almost a month since Chandler had sewn her lips together.

At first, her parents hadn't taken it well. Heather's mother had screamed when her daughter arrived home from school the first day, and tried to remove the thread silencing her daughter with her own hands.

"Oh, honey, what happened to you? Here, let me take those stitches out -"

 _"Mmmmggffff! Nnnnngggghhhhh!!"_ Heather shook her head vigourously and pushed her mother away, remembering Chandler's warnings about what would happen to her if she removed the stitches. Duke ended up being bundled into her mother's car after a short struggle between the two of them and driven to the nearest hospital.

She was still in the hospital now. The medical staff had tried their best to get rid of the stitches, but Duke had put up a fight, kicking and scratching when she saw a nurse pull out a tiny pair of scissors which had been intended to snip the red thread away.

A psychiatrist had been brought in to see Heather, and after a conversation which consisted of the psychiatrist asking Heather a bunch of questions in a tone that made it obvious that he thought she was stupid, and Heather answering him via writing things down with a notebook and pen, it was concluded that Heather Duke was severely mentally disturbed and that removing the stitches could further distress her, considering how obvious it was from what she had written that she wanted them to remain in her mouth. It was decided that she should be moved to a mental institution.

Ever since then, Heather's new home had been a boring, white room inside of Sherwood's mental hospital. She was not allowed to leave the room she had been placed in in case she further tried to harm herself. She wasn't even allowed to visit her own house. All she would see for the foreseeable future would be the white walls in her room. She didn't even get to see other patients - her psychiatrist had recommended she stay in a room on her own and not be allowed around other people, lest she try to harm any of the other patients. After all, she had already attacked herself and had tried to attack her parents and the doctors who were only trying to help her. She was deemed too unstable to be considered safe for vulnerable patients to be around.

For the first few days, Heather was unable to sleep at all. Her dreams consisted of visions of terror and flashes of red, and she took to staying up all night and reading by the light of her bedside lamp, or looking out of the window to stare at the hospital's garden instead of falling asleep and having nightmares.

Eventually, Heather settled, and started sleeping normally, although she felt somewhat uneasy. She resigned herself to the fact that this plain room would be her new home.

Although Duke didn't like being unable to leave the hospital or having to eat all her food through an IV drip, having her mouth sewn into smile strangely had its perks. She could wake up whenever she wanted, and didn't have to go to school. She could spend all day reading. Her Dad brought her a different book every time he came to visit her. She was finally able to get started on the huge pile of books she had bought but didn't have the time to read. But best of all, she didn't have to go to school and deal with people she hated.

That is, until Heather Chandler came to visit one day.

Heather Duke could only stare wide eyed as her tormentor, the girl who had made her into a voiceless doll, who haunted her dreams at night, walked into her ward and then plopped herself down in the visitors chair.

"Hello Heather. Did you miss me?"

"Nnnggghhh!!"

_What are you doing here?_

"Aw, don't look at me with such a terrified look on your face." Chandler said, reaching over to Duke's hair and beginning to play with it. "I just wanted to see how you were doing. I'm not going to harm you. Why, I won't hurt a single hair on your head!" Chandler reassured her, ruffling the top of her head. She then plucked out a hair from Duke's scalp and laughed.

"Oh, Heather ... You still have the stitches in. I thought they would be gone by now. I'm glad you're obeying me".

"You know, I don't hate you. I know you think I do, but really I don't. Well, at least not that much".

"Mmf-"

" - You're wondering why I did this to you, if it's not because I hate you? It's like what I told you before. I find your voice highly annoying and you insulted me".

Heather stared at her like she was insane.

"What? You think I went too far? Well, I did it because of more reasons than just being annoyed at you. Let me tell you something important - something that will make everything make sense. That will explain why I treated you this way all these years. You wanna know why I did it? I did it because you're a threat. I knew you had potential. That was why I approached you to be friends with me and Mac in the first place. So that I could keep you close to me. Turn you into a friend. Keep you subdued. And it worked for a few years. It got to the extent that no one at Westerburg could imagine the Heathers not being together. We became the most powerful clique in the school. But then, you started turning against me. You wanted out. You almost made the social order at Westerburg topple. Well, I couldn't have that. You deserved a punishment. I gave you one you'll never forget. And now, here you are, in the loony bin. The school didn't witness me getting talked down to and replaced by an inferior. Instead they get to see poor, ill Heather, who already had an eating disorder, get sent to the nuthouse. And her friends will continue to be in control of Westerburg High without anyone presenting a challenge to them - well, me. You know that I'm the one in charge. Mac is happy to be just a follower."

Duke could only continue to stare at Chandler. A punishment for her back talk at lunch that day? But Chandler had clearly planned it out some time before their argument. She couldn't have just randomly been carrying medical equipment in her backpack that day at school. So Chandler had sensed that Duke was biding her time until she saw an opportunity to replace her as the school's alpha female. And instead of losing her place as Queen of Westerburg High School, she took extreme measures to prevent that from ever happening - by making Duke look insane, removing her ability to speak, and terrifying her into submission.

"Mmmmmmggghhhhhm!!!" Duke screamed, her voice trapped inside her throat, as she flung herself at Chandler. She pushed Chandler onto the bed and began to claw and scratch at her. She was _livid_ at what Chandler had done, how she had manipulated her and made all of Sherwood believe she was crazy ... Her reputation was damaged for good, and her looks were ruined, the looks that she had constructed and took harsh measures to maintain solely to garner Chandler's approval.

Chandler was momentarily taken aback, before she pushed Duke off of her. The already bulimic Duke had lost a lot of weight from only being able to eat out of a tube, so subduing the scrawny girl was easy.

Chandler sat on the bed and looked at Duke, who was now tired from trying to hurt Chandler and was lying down on the other end of the bed.

"Attack me. I don't care. It will only work against you. If I tell people you threw yourself at me and started assaulting me it will just make them think you're even more unstable than they already think you are."

Duke's face darkened. Chandler had done a stellar job at convincing people she was a lunatic. She was smarter than Duke thought.

"I'm so happy that you're in here, where you belong, and every day I'll be where I belong, at Westerburg High School. I'll be able to spend the last year of school without _you_ looming over my shoulder. And you'll be here, reading all day. Isn't that what you wanted? You were always disappearing off to the library and complaining about how you never had time to read anymore because of school. You'd even pull out a novel and read when we were meant to be watching McNamara at cheerleading practice. Rather rude, if you ask me. But now you have all the time in the world to read. Really, you shouldn't be attacking me, you should be thanking me."

Chandler's words about being able to read all the time did little to console Duke ... her mouth was stitched shut with a needle and thread, goddamn it!  
She couldn't speak at all! And Chandler had done this just so she could have a year of school without Duke around?

Duke got off the bed and rooted around in her drawer, until she found an exercise book her parents had brought when they decided to bring all her textbooks to the hospital, just in case she wanted to do school work so that her life would feel somewhat normal, like it was before.

 _How could you? You mutilated me just so you wouldn't have to spend the final year of school with me?_ Duke wrote. A stream of angry tears rolled down her face and landed on the paper.

"Oh, Heather ... it's not just the final year ... it's the rest of your life. If you want to go to college, it will have to be out of state - unless you think you're up to dealing with the stigma of being the crazy chick, that is. You'll have to start college a lot later than the rest of us as well, considering how behind you'll be ... you won't be graduating high school with the rest of us. Your shrink won't want you dealing with the stress of exams. Good luck in ever finding a boyfriend, now that the whole town thinks you're nuts. Or a girlfriend ... don't think I never noticed the way you looked at Sawyer, how you always preferred hanging out with her than Mac and I, how you became quieter than usual when she was around. She's just like you - she's not a loyal friend. Unlike you, she never had any aspirations to be a leader though, she just decided to goof off with Betty Finn and Martha Dumptruck and the other geeks in our year. So I never felt the need to deal with her like I dealt with you. Although ... Veronica _does_ seem to have a thing for the troubled, slightly insane type... maybe there _is_ a chance with her... not likely though, considering you're locked up in a mental hospital."

Heather Chandler got off of the bed.

"Well, it's time for me to leave. Visiting hours are almost over. If you're thinking of getting the nurse to remove your stitches, go ahead. I don't care anymore. I already achieved what I wanted. I asked the secretary how you were doing before I came in, and apparently the entire medical team thinks you're deranged. Just like the rest of town. She only let me visit you because I explained that I'm an old childhood friend. They're convinced you're a danger to yourself, and to society. You can tell them the truth, but they'll never believe you. Everyone is convinced you finally went insane. They'll just think you're lying because you're jealous of me ... Most of the school knew what a jealous bitch you were."

"Enjoy your stay," Chandler said, hugging Duke and looking her straight in the eye with a cruel smile on her face. "It's going to be a long one".

Chandler happily walked out of Duke's hospital room. Duke stared at the back of the blonde's head as she walked away, before clutching her copy of _Jane Eyre_ to her chest and hanging her head down.

Her world had no future ... Heather Chandler, who was supposed to be her best friend, had destroyed that. Chandler would go on to live her life as normal, would probably never even think of Duke, and Duke would be in a mental hospital until she was old enough to sign herself out, but even after then, she'd never get to live her life how she wanted ... the stigma of being mentally ill would always follow her around. There was no way to mend her broken image. All she could do was open her book, and sigh, resigned to the fact her future had been stolen.


End file.
